Thrill of the hunt

What a fun day! My hubby and I went down to the final antique extravaganza of the season in Mt. Dora. I head to this event whenever I can to pick up the perfect vintage supplies for my crafting. Today I scored a few trays to turn into clocks, a couple planters to transform into pin cushions, and a handful of sewing notions.

Of course, it's also fun to scout for treasures that have nothing to do with crafting. You just never know what you'll find at these shows! Check out these cool sign letters that we found. It was fun that they spelled out our last name, but we just couldn't see hanging them anywhere in our house so we passed on them.

I fell in love with this metal and glass table and seriously considered buying it to replace our entryway table, but the price was a little high for us and the curve at the base of the legs would've kept it from sitting flush against the wall.

I'm always drawn to library card catalogs and apothecary chests, even though I'd probably never have a good use for one. I think they're more suited for dedicated scrapbookers or jewelry designers. But I had to take a picture of this one because I loved the tags on the drawers. When was the last time you saw the words "marabou" and "grizzly" used in such proximity? (To see a large version of the photo and read the other tags, click here.)

This old quilt was so lovely. I just loved the color combination because it was so different from most other vintage quilts that I've seen.

Pretty early in the day we saw a dealer who was selling chicken nesting boxes, and I kept thinking about them throughout the day. I was fantasizing about hanging one on the wall of my craft room and using it to store supplies. Of course in my mind, my entire craft room would then be magically transformed into one of those beautiful artsy studios in "Where Women Create," never mind the fact that I barely have a clear path in there right now. Oh, and there's the small detail that chickens were probably doing all sorts of unhygenic things in these boxes and that they'd need a thorough cleaning. But for whatever reason, I was inexplicably drawn to them. What can I say? I have a weakness for rusty-crusty things, especially those in galvanized zinc.

I've seen a lot of Singer Featherweight sewing machines for sale, but never one that had its own portable table. It was very cool, but the price was something like $300 or $400. Plus I already have half a dozen sewing machines, so I'm probably good for now.

And of course, a day at the flea market wouldn't be complete without a painting of dogs playing poker--or in this case, pool. This was one of those velvet rugs, which is even better in my book.

Well, that's the end of my highlight wrap-up. If you want to see the other pictures I took, feel free to swing over to my Flickr site.

Retooled table

I just discovered a new site called The CSI Project: create...show...inspire. Every week they feature a challenge to get your creative juices flowing. This week's challenge is Yard Sale Makeovers, so naturally I felt like I had to post a makeover of my own!



This is a boring old end table that I bought at a flea market and transformed into the colorful table you see here. I had always wanted to create a table that incorporated a game board. Amazingly, the vintage Chinese checkers board that I had was a perfect fit on the top of the table! I decided not to attach the board permanently to the table, because I wanted to have the option of flipping it over and enjoying both sides of the board. I did have a piece of glass cut to fit the inside of the wooden frame so that the board would be protected.



And can I just tell you how much I love the way the finish turned out? It looks a lot like milk paint, even though I used regular acrylic housepaint. I put on a base coat of yellow followed by a coat of red, with a little bit of sanding to grunge it up. I think the magic happened when I rubbed some brown and black shoepolish over the whole thing to give it that aged look. Vintage perfection!

I don't have any before photos of the table, but trust me when I say that the table was pretty blah. A previous owner had stripped it completely, and it had obviously been sitting around naked for awhile at the flea market (never a proper thing to do) and had turned a dull gray as the wood cracked and dried out.

If you're thinking that you've got a great yard sale transformation to share, be stop by The CSI Project website before noon on Thursday to learn how YOU can join in the fun!